What Is Spiritual Fatherhood

The term Spiritual Father is a modern term that is not found in the bible manuscripts. This means that it can only be defined outside the bible and the definition will vary from person to person creating much confusion.

So as a result I will not focus on the term Spiritual Father but rather on just Fatherhood, addressing the question of fathers and sons in the church of Christ. Whatever conclusions we get from that will after apply to those who use the term Spiritual Father.

Issues of context
The concept of Fatherhood exists in the scriptures. There have been many perversions, extremes and abuses to it in the church today. However I will try to be balanced and fair. There are sufficient scriptures in every direction. They need to be rightly divided.

I will start with the words of Christ

Matthew 23:9-10 (NET)
9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Every word that comes from our Lord is important. But our Lord’s words also need to be understood in their context

For example.

Luke 14:26 (NET)
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Here Jesus acknowledges that you have your own Father and Mother on earth whom you must hate.

If we take this without considering context, we will start hating our parents and our brothers. Yet the desciples of Christ says…

1 John 2:9 (WEB)
He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.

But didn’t Jesus say we must hate our brothers to be his disciples? Now John says if you hate your brother you are in darkness. So in the same vein that we don’t literally hate our fathers and mothers whom we are supposed to honour. We must also understand what Jesus says concerning calling a man on earth your Father, in its context.
We shall return to that scripture.

FATHERHOOD
Fatherhood has different contexts. We do have earthly people who are called Fathers in the New Testament, and yet they are not God.

Romans 4:16 (NET)
For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

Galatians 3:7 (NET)
so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.

All Christians have Abraham as their Father, yet Abraham is not God but man. This is because Abraham’s fatherhood is not the same as God’s fatherhood. Abraham is the Father of our faith, God is the Father of our Spirits.

Hebrews 12:9 (WEB)
Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

This scripture gives two contexts of Fatherhood. Father’s of the flesh and The Father or our Spirits.

So now we have.

1. Abraham as Father of our Faith
2. Earthly father as Father of our fleah
3. God as Father of our Spirits.

There is a fourth context of fatherhood, which is Father in the Faith. Or Father in Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:15 (KJV)
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Paul says he beget the Corinthian church in Christ Jesus. In the world of the bible, from Genesis to Revelation, women don’t beget. The word beget is used only for fathers to sons.

Adam beget Seth.
Abraham beget Isaac
David Beget Solomon.

God says to Jesus…
“This day have I begotten you.”

It is only Fathers who beget. This is why other versions say…

1 Corinthians 4:15 (WEB)
For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News.

1 Corinthians 4:15 (NET)
For though you may have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Paul’s fatherhood is not outside of Christ. He is not trying to be God. He is their Father in Christ, through the gospel.

Paul then says this to Timothy….

1 Corinthians 4:17 (NET)
For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

Paul explains his relationship with Timothy in the Lord.

Philippians 2:22 (KJV)
But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.

John further adds.

1 John 2:1 (WEB)
My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

So there does exists Fatherhood in the Lord, which does not disrupt the fatherhood of God because it is done all in submission to God.

Addressing Extremes

1. There’s no office of a Father in the Church.

When Christ gave offices in his church, he did not give an office called Fathers.

Ephesians 4:11-13 (NET)
11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature.

If you look here, you will see that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are all working together to bring the christian to maturity. It is they who play a fatherhood role in the Lord.

People have now created offices in the body of Christ where they create sects saying this is my Father, I am son of so and so. I believe this is an extreme which ultimately misleads people from enjoying the fullness of their relationship with God.

2. Taking the place of God.
God desires to have an intimate Father Son relationship with every one of his children. Now there are certain doctrines, which when practiced will effectively hinder a person from growing their relationship with God.

The Ideal Relationship

As sons of God, we are meant to have the exact same relationship with God as our Father just as we see Jesus relating to God. To Jesus, God’s Fatherhood over his life was not just a concept, It was a living reality. God would nature, provide and protect him in the Spirit, just as your natural Father would nature, provide and protect a child in the natural.

You have a Father of your flesh, who teaches you in the flesh, feeds you in the flesh and protects you from enemies in the flesh. When you are born of The Spirit, born of God. Your Father God has a responsibility to teach his children, feed you, protect you from enemies, raise you and provide for all our needs. So It is important for every Christian to know God as their Father. Every form of Fatherhood that exists in the new testament should not take the place of God’s fatherhood. Once it does that, it effectively replaces God for a man.

Here are some errors.

1. Deep Submission.
The bible says we must submit ourselves to all authority. This means that a proper believer, will even submit to the instructions of an usher or a security guard because they respect authority.

Hebrews 13:17 (NET)
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

1 Peter 2:13 (NET)
Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme..

As believers, we also practice mutual submission. This means that every christian should be submissive to other christians.

Ephesians 5:21 (NET)
and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

This is proper submission within the body of Christ. That is why when Paul and Barnabas have an issue with other brethren who refused to accept their revelation, they returned to Jerusalem and submitted themselves to the decisions of the other apostles. (Acts 15). At that Jerusalem council, you find that all the apostles sat down and submitted to James who was the Bishop of Jerusalem even though the apostles are the ones who appoint bishops, yet Peter, Paul, John and the other apostles chose to submit to James as he chaired the meeting.

This is true Christian submission.

However, there is Excessive Submission which takes the place of God. Excessive submission is when a leader begins to Lord over the sheep. When he becomes a master.

1 Peter 5:2-3 (NET)
2 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly. 3 And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock.

1 Peter 5:3 (PESH)
not as lords of the flock, but that you may be to them a goodly example;

When Leaders require deep submission, they become Lords over the flock and this is against Gods principle.

Question and Answer

1. Is it right to call someone a spiritual father. Calling them that doesn’t it make them some kind of father to your spirit which according to the discussion is only the place for God.

A person can take the place of God in your life whether or not you call them your spiritual father. Since the word was invented by people, the issue is not in the word but in the doctrines that surround it. Even if you were to call someone your Pastor or brother, if you add enough doctrines around those titles you can end up worshiping them.

There are people I have seen who call people their Fathers and sometimes Spiritual Father, but when you speak to them you realise that as far as they are concerned it’s just a way of respect, but they don’t exercise deep submission. Some take the word to distinguish between a natural father and someone from the church who has looked after them and has been a father figure in their lives. But they don’t have any extra doctrines attached.

Personally however, since Jesus did not leave the office of a Father or Spiritual Father in the church, I believe we should not add to it. I feel we should just stay with the titles and offices that he left us, Apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist. That should be enough. I believe when we go beyond what is written and add our own offices and titles, we open room for the devil to enter the church.

2. Is it right to say someone is under my covering?

Let me say this first. Every person has a grace which is upon their life, and when someone comes under your mentorship or natural care, your grace extends to them. If you are a christian and someone comes to live in your house, you will naturally start to have words of knowledge for them and God may reveal issues for you to pray for them. This will happen according to the level of your gifting. So there is a sort of covering that we give each other as christians according to the level of our gifting and anointing. God has done this in order to promote fellowship and love among the brethren. However every Christian is ultimately under the covering of our Lord Jesus. Even if all the people in the world were to die, as long as you have Christ you have all the covering you need.

However, it is possible to pervert this issue.

If I start asking for money, or asking you to buy my products so that you can be spiritually covered, that becomes idolatary. If I tell you that you need to be under my covering for you to have victory over your enemies, I have effectively made you to stop relying and depending on Christ for your victory but on me. Jesus Christ is your saviour. As long as you have him, you have victory. If you have any other person or thing, that you think if you don’t have you will not be victorious, then that person has become your Christ.

Acts 4:12 (New International Version)
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

There is no other person that can save you from death, poverty, sickness or anything, besides Christ. Any person who intimidates you and tells you that you can only succeed if you submit to them, or if you buy their products has become another saviour, another Christ.

The word Christ means anointed one.

3. Is it ok to submit to someone who is like a higher rank to you and has been in ministry for longer than you and understands more than you do?

You are meant to submit to all people in authority, and whatever hierarchies have been established. When you single out one person it can become tricky. The same level of submission you give to Paul is the same level of submission you should give to Peter and the same as John. All Pastors, Prophets, Evangelists and Apostles whom you believe to be anointed ministers of the gospel deserve the same level of respect and submission from you.

1 corinthians 4
4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly? 5Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? 6I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.

That being said…

When you attend a church service, you are to submit to the leadership there, unless if they ask you to do something which is against the authority and word of Christ whom we all must submit to.

Ultimately we should all submit to the word of God. This is why Paul was able to rebuke Peter. Even though Peter had walked with Christ in the flesh and witnessed the baptism death and resurrection of Christ. Even though Peter had been told his name was rock and had been given the keys of the kingdom of heaven and earth. Yet still Paul rebuked him according to the word. And because Peter was submissive, he admitted and repented.

In the same way when Paul insulted the high priest who had told people to strike him… Paul was rebuked by the very people who had struck him, and Paul repented because he knew he had broken scripture. Paul submitted to the word.

5. If you are a leader eg you started a ministry and people submit to you for mentorship and leadership and generally as a leader. Are you allowed to call them son or daughter?

It all depends on what it means to you, and the doctrine you assign to those words. Paul took care of Timothy in the same was that a father cares for his natural son.

Acts 20
34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

When Paul called people sons, It is because he literally worked to help these people. If you say, you have to give me your tithe or your offering in order to be my son, then that is wrong. If you want to have people that you call your children, then make sure you are ready to do all the hard work for their benefit.

Let This Mind Be In You

I think a lot of these issue erupt where people lack the Mind of Christ.

Isaiah 9:6 (New International Version)
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Colosians 1
15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

There is no one, and nothing else in all existence that fits the description but Jesus. Yet, He, even with all these titles, all this glory, has no problems just being called Jesus. If you call upon his name…Jesus… with no titles, whatsoever, he will come and serve you, full of Love and Grace. Whether you say Lord Jesus, King Jesus, God Jesus or just Jesus… he does not mind.

Who am I then, a mere speck of dust to demand that if you address me you have to say, Father or Prophet or Apostle or whatever title. To be addressed by a title is not a problem, but to demand that a person should always call you Father so and so, when we call our true everlasting Father by his first name is mere arrogance.

Though Jesus is our creator, though he died for our sins, though he’s ruler of all, yet he is not ashamed to call us brothers. We deserve to be called slaves or servants yet he addresses us as brothers.

Hebrews 2:11 (English Standard Version)
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

Mathew 28:10 (New International Version)
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Wow. My God and my Lord chooses to address me as his brother. My president on earth will never call me brother, my boss will never call me brother yet… the creator of the universe addresses me as his brother. What makes me so special that I have to demand that i must address my church members as sons and daughters when I am speaking to you them NO. NO.

Paul sums this up in this way.

Philipians 2
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very naturea God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7rather, he made himself nothing

This is the standard of the Holy Spirit.